by Duke Helm
RUNNINGBACKS: Logan Sterner of Pen Argyl rushed for 270 yards and 4 td’s in their win over Notre Dame. In the process, the junior, went over 1,000 yards for the season to duplicate what his father Rick also did at Pen Argyl as a junior. Logan now has 1,021 yards while Rick rushed for 1,222 yards in 1986. Logan has scored 21 td’s so far this season and has 35 for his career. Teammate Logan Ruppert went over 2,000 yards rushing for his career (2,007) to go along with his 1,076 yards passing. Mike Stasko of Palmerton rushed for 167 yards and 3 td’s in their win over Catasauqua. He went over 2,000 yards for his career (2,119) and joined the “40 td” club with 41 career td’s. Stasko also puts his name on the list of players to rush for 2,000 yards and have 1,000 yards receiving in their career. Darnell Ferrell of Central Catholic scored another 4 td’s vs Stroudsburg to up his District lead to 30. Ferrell had 1 rushing td, 2 receiving td’s and returned an interception for a td. He also threw a 62 yard td pass. He also joins the “40 td” club and now has 43 career td’s. He’s tied on the District career list with a diverse group. They are qb Mark Weaver of Salisbury, runningbacks Clayton Andrews (Lehighton), Brian Hahn (Palisades) and Ryan Heim (Pine Grove), receiver Paryss Marshall of Catasauqua and runningback/receiver Tommy Rohn of Northampton. Saivaughn Vass of Bangor (1,035) and Mike Mitchell of Pleasant Valley (1,164) both went over 1,000 yards rushing for the season. Mitchell has scored 21 total td’s this year. His yardage is second best at PV behind Austyn Borre’s 1,257 yards and his td’s break Borre’s school record of 20 that he set just last year. Richie Zahodnick of North Schuylkill has scored 30 td’s in his career and Mike Mayernik of Lehighton now has 20 career td’s. Thomas Mechiorre of ESN now has 49 career td’s tying him with former players, Don Diorio (Pius X), Josh Snyder (Northwestern), Eric Fiore (Whitehall) and Jarel Elder (Parkland). Zach Petiet of Saucon Valley had his first 200 yard game of his career. Petiet rushed for 243 yards and 3 td’s in their win over Wilson. Lubens Myers of Emmaus also had his first game over 200 yards when he rushed for 265 yards and 3 td’s in their win over Liberty. Mike Mitchell of Pleasant Valley now has 1,164 yards rushing and has scored 21 total td’s. Dylan Rabuck takes over the District rushing lead with his 1,253 yards.
QUARTERBACKS: Jake Cirillo of East Stroudsburg South threw for a school record 462 yards and 6 td’s in their win over Allen. The yardage is the second highest ever in the District. Brandon Nosovitch of Central Catholic holds the District record when he threw for 487 yards in a 61-54 win over Valley Veiw in 2011. Cirillo now has 61 career td passes and jumps all the way up to 11th place on the District all-time list. His yardage (5,790) puts him in 14th place all-time in the District. In the same game, Romeo Wright of Allen threw for 264 yards and 3 td’s. Cirillo and Wright combined for 726 yards passing and 9 td passes. Brandon Keyes of Pleasant Valley threw for 271 yards and 5 td’s in their win over ESN. Keyes widens his District leads to 1,919 yards passing and 27 td passes. His yardage is 3rd best at PV and his td passes breaks the school record of 23 that Derrik Walling set in 2010. Travis Stefanik of Nazareth threw for 304 yards and 2 td’s vs Freedom. Stefanik is now Nazareth’s record holder for career td passes with 54. That broke the tie with Dan Harding who threw 52 td’s from 2009-11. That also ties Barry Kennedy of Catasauqua and Bobby Grigas of North Schuylkill for 19th place all-time in the District. His 4,821 career passing yards places Stefanik in 33rd place all-time in the District. He’s currently 1 yard behind former Blue Eagle Tom Silvius (1986-88). Ethan Kuczynski of Marian Catholic, Joe Young of Freedom and Garrett Perschy of Palmerton occupy spots 57, 59 and 60 on the District list for career passing yards. Kuczynski has 43 career td passes and is currently tied with Mark Smith of Allen and Nick Todero of Pine Grove for 39th place in the District. Ethan Persa of Central Catholic threw for 260 yards and 4 td’s last week. Persa, with his 3,487 career passing yards, jumped up 23 spots from 101st to 78th place on the District all-time list. Eric Wapinsky of Pottsville went over 1,000 yards passing for the season (1,007)) and 2,000 for his career (2,056) when he threw for 226 yards in their win over Lehighton. He also reached 20 career td passes. Dylan Della Valle of Pocono Mountain West also went over 2,000 yards passing in his career (2,130) and 20 td’s (21). Della Valle reached those milestones by throwing for 245 yards and 3 td’s in their win over Dieruff. In the same game, QuIdanie Vega of Dieruff threw for a personal best 247 yards and a td. Junior, Hunter Kennedy of Panther Valley now has 10 td passes this year, matching the 10 he threw as a sophomore and now has 20 for his career.
RECEIVERS: Tim Walter of Southern Lehigh now sits just outside the top 20 for career reception yardage with 1,877 yards. Walter is in 22nd place just 5 yards behind Pius X’s Quintin Lopez on the District list. His 114 catches ties him with former NFL tight end Tim Massaquoi of Parkland. Justin Richardson of Pleasant Valley caught 6 passes for 164 yards and 4 td’s vs ESN. His season totals have him at 38 receptions for 972 yards and 15 td’s. His yardage and td’s catches break Andrew Romeo’s school records of 742 and 12. Richardson ups his career totals to 62 catches for a school record 1,361 yards and 20 td’s. Rob Getz held the old record with his 1,260 yards. Desmond Boykin of Whitehall leads the District with 53 receptions. John Murphy caught another 10 passes for a school record 206 yards and a District tying 5 td catches vs Allen. That’s the 4th time this year Murphy has had at least 3 td catches in a game. His 206 yards breaks his own record of 190 yards that he set earlier this year vs PME. The 5 td catches ties the 5 that Rob Harper had for Notre Dame in 1981 vs PME and the 5 that Kevin Gulyas of Central Catholic had vs Valley View in 2011. For the season, Murphy now has 49 catches for 786 yards and 16 td catches. He also has an 86 yard kick-off return td. Ryan Greene of Catasauqua caught 7 passes vs Palmerton and now has 105 for his career. Greene’s teammates, Corey Raysely and Miguel Hernandez both went over 1,000 yards receiving for their careers. Chris Monaco of PMW had a big game vs Dieruff. Monaco rushed for 143 yards and a td and caught 7 passes for 116 yards and 2 td’s. He now has 1,013 career receiving yards which is just 1 yard short of the school record held by Matt Shelter. His 12 career reception td’s is now a school record breaking the tie with Jordan Hardy. Felix Alvarez of Allen caught 11 passes for 121 yards and 2 td’s last week vs ESS. His 11 catches ties the school record held jointly by Reggie Gardner and Anthony Cruz. Garner and Cruz both set the record in 2006. Thomas Murphy of Central Catholic caught 3 td’s for the second game in row and now has 8 on the season. He needs 10 more yards to reach 1,000 for his career. Shawn O’Toole of Jim Thorpe caught 3 td passes from Brendon Carroll.
KICKERS: Josh Snead of Saucon Valley kicked a 40 yard field goal last week vs Wilson. The school record is 45 yards held by Jim McKeown. McKeown kicked the 45 yarder vs Palmerton in 1999. McKeown would kick 7 field goals that year and earn 3rd team All-State honors. Chris McKeown would kick 8 field goals in 2003 with a long of 42 yards and earn 1st team All-State honors. Jim had a 3.7 gpa and scored a 1340 on his SAT’s. Chris had a 4.1 gpa and scored a 1320 on his SAT’s and was named top scholar athlete.
Week 8 Trivia: Brandon Keyes of Pleasant Valley threw 6 td passes in week 7 and 5 in week 8. At first it looked like he also threw 6 td’s last week but his first td pass he actually threw 2 yards behind him to Justin Richardson and it was counted as a lateral and a td run for Richardson. With that being said. Who’s the only District quarterback to throw for 6 td’s in back to back games?
Week 7 Trivia: Northampton football has won many league championships and has had many powerhouse teams. They also play an extra game each year vs Catasauqua on Thanksgiving morning. But they’ve only had 8 players that rushed for 1,000 yards in a season. How many of the 8 can you name and who holds the record? Denny Onkotz (1965), Mike Drexler (1981 & 1982), Jim Scott (1997), Phil Hard (1999), Jeff Pammer (2003), Devin Kline (2004) and the record holder was the last one to do it. Shane Fenningham rushed 1,257 yards in 2008 (13 games) breaking Onkotz’s old record of 1,234 yards (8 games).
Week 6 Trivia: Carson’s 48 yard field goal vs BECA is not a school record. Dalton’s 7 field goals in one season isn’t a school record either. Who kicked the longest field goal in Emmaus history and who kicked the most field goals in one season at Emmaus? Mike Wascura kicked a 49 yarder vs BECA in 1999. Austin O’Brien kicked 8 field goals as a sophomore in 2008.
Week 5 Trivia: Deven Bollinger of Northwestern went over 1,000 yards passing last week to become the 9th freshman to do accomplish that in District 11. How many of the other 8 can you name and who did first? Jake Cirillo (ESS 2013), AJ Long (Pius X 2010), Alex Atiyeh (Dieruff 2003), Ryan Fry (Nazareth 1995), Brent Andrew (Marian Catholic 1994), Jim Weidle (Mahanoy Area 1992), Dan Kendra III (BECA 1991) and the first to do it was Ric Schumacher of Notre Dame in 1988.
Week 4 Trivia: Desmond Boykin of Whitehall had 207 yards receiving last week vs Liberty. That is not a school record. Who holds the school record for most receiving yards in a game at Whitehall? HINT: He was a “one game wonder”. Question #2… I’ll make it a little bit easier. Boykin became the 8th Zephyr to go over 1,000 yards receiving in their career. How many of the other 7 players can you name? In a 31-14 Thanksgiving day loss to Emmaus in 1988, Fred Delucia had 9 catches for a school record 228 yards. In Stan Luckenbill’s last game as head coach, Delucia caught 4 passes from starter Dave Swartley in the first half. Then, in the second half Luckenbill inserted sophomore qb Mike Buskirk. Buskirk connected with Delucia 5 times for 155 yards and 2 td’s. Question 2 answer: Mike Peters, Adam Skrapits, Joel Cesare, Jim Potocnie, Matt Hamscher, Tyler Artim and Conner Sullivan.
Week 3 Trivia: Joe Young of Freedom (3,001 career passing yards) needs 393 passing yards to break the school record. Who holds the record with 3,393 passing yards for their career at Freedom? Jeff Haberl threw for 3,393 yards from 1995-96. Haberl would throw for 1,443 yards (16 td’s) as a junior and then throw for 1,950 yards (19 td’s) as a senior. He would complete 71 passes for 1,459 yards and 14 td’s to his bookend wide receivers Matt Kacanda and Trent Clark.
Week 2 Trivia:
No player in the District rushed for 200 yards last week. When was the last time that happened in the regular season? There’s been a player in District 11 rush for at least 200 yards in 51 consecutive regular season weeks and counting. I’m currently back to 2010 (week 10) researching to find a 200 yard rusher.
Week 1 Trivia: Mitch Daniel of Notre Dame rushed for over 1,000 yards (1,096) and caught passes for over 500 yards (525) in 2015. Who is the only other player in District 11 to accomplish this? Hint: He played D1, but didn’t play offense. Kyshoen Jarrett of East Stroudsburg South rushed for 1,027 yards and caught 33 passes for 591 yards in 2010. Jarrett had a successful career at Virginia Tech making 249 career tackles from his safety position.
2016 single game highs: ( ) is the week the player accomplished the stat
Single Game Touchdowns (4)
7 (5), 5 (2), 4 (3), 4 (4), 4 (6), 4 (8) Darnell Ferrell (Central Catholic) *7 Ties School Record*
6 (6), 4 (8) Logan Sterner (Pen Argyl) *School Record*
5 (4) Mike Stasko (Palmerton) *Owns School Record of 6 set in 2015*
5 (8) Justin Richardson (Pleasant Valley) *Ties School Record*
5 (7) Nick Breiner (Tamaqua)
5 (8), 4 (4) John Murphy (East Stroudsburg South)
4 (1) Thomas Melchiorre (East Stroudsburg North)
4 (2) Mitch Daniel (Notre Dame)
4 (4), 4 (5) Sone Ntoh (Emmaus)
4 (4), 4 (7) Dashaun Peterson (Freedom)
4 (4), 4 (7) Zach Petiet (Saucon Valley)
4 (4) Saivaughn Voss (Bangor)
4 (5) Randy Terry III (Bethlehem Catholic)
4 (6) Mike Mitchell (Pleasant Valley)
4 (6) Luke Strauss (Southern Lehigh)
4 (6) Jared Colletti (Palisades)
4 (7) Mike Mayernik (Lehighton)
4 (7) Desmond Boykin (Whitehall)
Single Game Rushing Yardage (200)
304 (3) Thomas Melchiorre (East Stroudsburg North)
301 (6) Mike Mitchell (Pleasant Valley) *School Record*
272 (3) Jamaal Brome (Stroudsburg)
272 (7) Saivaughn Vass (Bangor)
270 (8), 258 (3) Logan Sterner (Pen Argyl)
265 (3) Brandon Belfonti (Northern Lehigh)
265 (8) Lubens Myers (Emmaus)
262 (5), 206 (6) Dylan Rabuck (Williams Valley)
251 (7) Dashaun Peterson (Freedom)
243 (8) Zach Petiet (Saucon Valley)
235 (4), 213 (3) Darnell Ferrell (Central Catholic)
230 (6) Luke Strauss (Southern Lehigh)
226 (5) Richie Zahodnick (North Schuylkill)
216 (1) Randy Terry III (Bethlehem Catholic)
212 (5) Job Goodman (Wilson)
210 (4) Danny Scheib (Tri-Valley)
210 (5) Cam Lutz (Pine Grove)
Single Game Passing Yardage (200)
462 (8), 288 (2) Jake Cirillo (East Stroudsburg South) *School Record*
335 (3), 224 (1) Logan Edmond (Southern Lehigh)
335 (7), 271 (8), 264 (6), 244 (4), 229 (1), 217 (2) Brandon Keyes (Pleasant Valley)
315 (1), 240 (2), 235 (3) Cody Scherer (Lehighton) *School Record*
305 (1), 254 (3), 239 (5) Cole DeFranco (Notre Dame)
304 (8), 260 (7), 234 (3), 210 (1) Travis Stefanik (Nazareth)
302 (2), 297 (1) Andrew Brett (Catasaqua)
291 (3), 264 (5), 256 (7), 241 (1) Deven Bollinger (Northwestern) *School Record*
282 (3), 266 (7), 225 (1), 218 (1) Zachary Gilbert (Whitehall)
276 (5), 260 (8), 210 (7) Ethan Persa (Central Catholic)
266 (7), 204 (2), 201 (1) Hunter Kennedy (Panther Valley)
264 (5), 259 (4), 254 (7) Garrett Perschy (Palmerton)
264 (8) Romeo Wright (Allen)
258 (4) Doug Weist (North Schuylkill)
255 (3) Noah Allegretta (Shenandoah Valley)
247 (8) Quidanie Vega (Dieruff)
245 (8) Dylan Della Valle (Pocono Mountain West)
243 (2), 221 (7) Logan Yoder (Tri-Valley)
243 (5), 243 (7) Javon Clements (Bethlehem Catholic)
226 (8) Eric Wapinsky (Pottsville)
223 (6), 210 (1) Joe Young (Freedom)
208 (2) Todd Erney (Liberty)
207 (3) Scott Poulson (Easton)
Single Game TD Passes (4)
6 (7), 5 (8) Brandon Keyes (Pleasant Valley) *Ties School Record*
6 (8) Jake Cirillo (East Stroudsburg South) *School Record*
5 (2) Andrew Brett (Catasauqua) *Ties School Record*
5 (4) Brandon Keyes (Pleasant Valley)
5 (7), 4 (8) Ethan Persa (Central Catholic)
4 (3) Logan Edmond (Southern Lehigh) *Ties School Record*
4 (4) Garrett Perschy (Palmerton)
4 (7) Javon Clements (Bethlehem Catholic)
4 (7) Travis Stefanik (Nazareth)
4 (7) Logan Yoder (Tri-Valley)
Single Game Receptions (10)
12 (6) Jason Najunas (Shenandoah Valley) *School Record*
11 (2) Miguel Hernandez (Catasauqua) *Ties School Record*
11 (8) Felix Alvarez (Allen) *Ties School Record*
10 (4) Desmond Boykin (Whitehall) *Ties School Record*
10 (7), 10 (8) John Murphy (East Stroudsburg South)
10 (7) Nick Keifer (Nazareth)
Single Game Reception Yardage (150)
207 (4), 191 (7) Desmond Boykin (Whitehall)
206 (8), 190 (2) John Murphy (East Stroudsburg South) *School Record*
187 (1), 176 (3), 164 (8) Justin Richardson (Pleasant Valley)
184 (1), 161 (5), 153 (7) Trevor Cunningham (Northwestern) *School Record*
176 (2) Darian Street (Liberty)
168 (3) Julian Liaci (Nazareth)
167 (7) Zachary Keifer (Nazareth)
Single Game Reception TD’s (3)
5 (8), 4 (4), 3 (2), 3 (7) John Murphy (East Stroudsburg South) *School Record* Ties District Record
4 (8), 3 (1) Justin Richardson (Pleasant Valley) *Ties School Record*
3 (3) Trevor Cunningham (Northwestern)
3 (3) Timmy Walter (Southern Lehigh) *Ties School Record*
3 (4) Desmond Boykin (Whitehall) *Ties School Record*
3 (3) Mike Stasko (Palmerton)
3 (6) Alex Huertas (Freedom)
3 (7), 3 (8) Thomas Murphy (Central Catholic)
3 (7) Zachary Keifer (Nazareth)
3 (8) Shawn O’Toole (Jim Thorpe)
District Season Leaders (2016)
Rushing (900)
1253 Dylan Rabuck (Williams Valley)
1208 Darnell Ferrell (Central Catholic)
1167 Thomas Melchiorre (East Stroudsburg North)
1164 Mike Mitchell (Pleasant Valley)
1035 Saivaughn Vass (Bangor)
1032 Jamaal Brome (Stroudsburg)
1021 Logan Sterner (Pen Argyl)
996 Randy Terry (Bethlehem Catholic)
993 Zach Petiet (Saucon Valley)
949 Danny Scheib (Tri-Valley)
938 Jared Colletti (Palisades)
Touchdowns (14)
30 Darnell Ferrell (Central Catholic)
21 Mike Mitchell (Pleasant Valley)
21 Logan Sterner (Pen Argyl)
19 Zach Petiet (Saucon Valley)
17 Thomas Melchiorre (East Stroudsburg North)
16 Sone Ntoh (Emmaus)
16 Jamaal Brome (Stroudsburg)
15 Mike Stasko (Palmerton)
14 Mitch Daniel (Notre Dame)
Passing Yards (1000)
1919 Brandon Keyes (Pleasant Valley)
1600 Ethan Persa (Central Catholic)
1554 Cole DeFranco (Notre Dame)
1525 Travis Stefanik (Nazareth)
1522 Zachary Gilbert (Whitehall)
1485 Jake Cirillo (East Stroudsburg South)
1483 Deven Bollinger (Northwestern)
1441 Andrew Brett (Catasauqua)
1334 Cody Scherer (Lehighton)
1277 Garrett Perschy (Palmerton)
1265 Joe Young (Freedom)
1236 Logan Edmond (Southern Lehigh)
1165 Derek Sheaffer (Emmaus)
1142 Hunter Kennedy (Panther Valley)
1092 Noah Allegretta (Shenandoah Valley)
1007 Javon Clements (Bethlehem Catholic)
1007 Eric Wapinsky (Pottsville)
Touchdown Passes (12)
27 Brandon Keyes (Pleasant Valley) *School Record*
18 Jake Cirillo (East Stroudsburg South)
16 Ethan Persa (Central Catholic)
15 Travis Stefanik (Nazareth)
14 Deven Bollinger (Northwestern)
13 Logan Edmond (Southern Lehigh)
13 Eric Wapinsky (Pottsville)
12 Derek Sheaffer (Emmaus)
12 Javon Clements (Bethlehem Catholic)
12 Cody Scherer (Lehighton)
12 Zachary Gilbert (Whitehall)
12 Garrett Perschy (Palmerton)
Receptions (30)
53 Desmond Boykin (Whitehall)
49 John Murphy (East Stroudsburg South)
44 Jalen Simpson (Notre Dame)
41 Miguel Hernandez (Catasauqua)
39 Ryan Greene (Catasauqua)
38 Corey Raysely (Catasauqua)
38 Gavin Zehner (Lehighton)
38 Trevor Cunningham (Northwestern)
38 Justin Richardson (Pleasant Valley)
36 Timmy Walter (Southern Lehigh)
35 Alec Huertas (Freedom)
30 Jon Moran (Notre Dame)
30 Josh Artis (Emmaus)
30 Julian Liaci (Nazareth)
30 Tom Murphy (Central Catholic)
Reception Yardage (500)
972 Justin Richardson (Pleasant Valley) *School Record*
860 Trevor Cunningham (Northwestern) *School Record*
786 John Murphy (East Stroudsburg South) *School Record*
704 Desmond Boykin (Whitehall)
601 Miguel Hernandez (Catasauqua)
599 Gavin Zehner (Lehighton)
570 Timmy Walter (Southern Lehigh)
568 Thomas Murphy (Central Catholic)
522 Alec Huertas (Freedom)
507 Josh Artis (Emmaus)
506 Julian Liaci (Nazareth)
Reception Touchdowns (8)
16 John Murphy (East Stroudsburg South)
15 Justin Richardson (Pleasant Valley) *School Record*
11 Trevor Cunningham (Northwestern)
8 Alec Huertas (Freedom)
8 Alston Wolfe (Saucon Valley)
8 Thomas Murphy (Central Catholic)
